1 . The rise of robots has raised the possibility of future where there is simply less work for humans to do. To tired workers, a world where all had a bit more leisure time sounds rather nice. Yet what really matters is how work will be distributed across the workforce.
The recent past show there is no reason to believe it will be evenly spread. The length of the average working week in the UK has declined steadily from about 59 hours in the mid-19th century to 32 hours in 2009. But averages hide a lot.
While trends among women have been stable, there have been big shifts among men. Males in well-paid full-time employment are now working slightly longer hours on average than two decades ago. Meanwhile, men in full-time employment at the bottom of the wage ladder are working much less.
On top of that, the number of low-paid men who work part-time has increased sharply. Twenty years ago, one in twenty men with low hourly wages worked part-time; today it is one in five. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows this phenomenon is only happening among the low-paid. In better paying jobs, part-time men are still fairly rare. Gender roles within families might tend to be similar too. Low-paid men maybe choosing to shoulder more childcare responsibilities so their parents can return to work.
Yet it is clear that the distribution of work will matter to people. Britain has both over employment and underemployment problems: Official data show 3.4m people in Britain want to work more hours while 3.2m want to work few hours for less pay. The underemployed are likely to be waiters or cleaners. The over employed are most likely to be doctors or chief executives. This indicates an economy where demand and supply of skills are out of sync.
Nobody knows for sure how the next wave of automation will shake up demand for different skills. Perhaps doctors will gain the free time they desire. Others might find themselves in greater demand. But short of developing a much better system for training people quickly for the jobs the economy needs, it seems likely that in the future—as now—there will be too much work for some, and too little for others.
1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?| A．The development of robots will get rid of human’s work. |
| B．Future leisure time will be allocated evenly across the workforce. |
| C．UK has taken some measures to stop the decline of working hours. |
| D．The average may not accurately indicate the steady decline of working hours. |
| A．Fair. | B．Imbalanced. | C．Stable. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Part-time men have increased only among the low-paid. |
| B．More well-paid men are choosing to work part-time. |
| C．Part-time men rarely shoulder childcare responsibilities. |
| D．Low-paid men are to blame for the low employment. |
| A．The total amount of human labor will be decreased. |
| B．Better training system will be built across the world. |
| C．Robots contribute to uneven distribution across the workforce. |
| D．The number of low-paid men who work part-time has increased. |
2 . Life is not always smooth and easy. Sometimes we may encounter adversity, such as illness, loss, failure, or conflict, which test our resilience and courage. In these situations, we may feel lonely and helpless, and lose confidence and hope. However, we are not alone. We have our family members, who can play a significant role in helping us overcome adversity.
Family is the most intimate and trustworthy group of people in our lives. They share our blood and genes, and have a deep bond with us. They know our strengths and weaknesses, our joys and sorrows, our dreams and fears. They care about our well-being and happiness, and are willing to sacrifice for us. They can offer us unconditional love and acceptance, which can heal our wounds and soothe our pain.
Family is also the most supportive group of people in our lives. They have a long history and rich culture, and have a profound impact on our values and beliefs. They can teach us important lessons and skills, such as honesty, responsibility, cooperation, and perseverance. They can also provide us with various resources and assistance, such as money, information, advice, or connections. They can help us cope with challenges and difficulties, and find solutions and opportunities.
Family is also the most inspiring and motivating group of people in our lives. They have their own stories and achievements, and have a great potential for growth and development. They can set examples for us to follow and admire. They can also challenge us to improve ourselves and pursue excellence. They can encourage us to explore our interests and talents, and follow our passions and goals. They can support us in our endeavors, and celebrate our successes and contributions.
In summary, family is an indispensable part of our lives, especially when we face adversity. They can play a positive role in many aspects, such as giving us love and acceptance, teaching us lessons and skills, providing us with resources and assistance, setting examples for us, challenging us to improve ourselves, encouraging us to follow our passions, supporting us in our endeavors, celebrating our successes. Therefore, we should appreciate our family members and express our gratitude and affection to them.
1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．We face difficulties and challenges in life. |
| B．Adversity challenges our strength and bravery. |
| C．We feel hopeless when we face the problems. |
| D．Families provide support in time of adversity. |
| A．We have the same blood type as our family members. |
| B．Family members are willing to give up their lives for us. |
| C．We are genetically and emotionally close to our family members. |
| D．We have little in common with family members. |
| A．Honesty. | B．Responsibility. | C．Cooperation. | D．Competition. |
| A．By restating his opinion. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By asking questions. | D．By offering his suggestions. |
3 . Any image taken from space confirms that we live on an ocean planet. How strange that we call our planet “Earth,” derived from a Germanic word meaning “the ground,” when more than 70 percent of its surface is covered by ocean.
We need more people to see the sea. Right now, less than 3 percent of the ocean is considered highly protected. Experts urge that at least 30 percent be protected to safeguard marine(海洋的) ecosystems, which in turn will help protect our health and well-being. The ocean supplies more than half our oxygen, absorbs carbon dioxide, regulates our climate, and supports much of the world’s economy. We need it a lot more than it needs us.
Take Florida, for example, one of the United States’ recreational hot spots. It’s bordered by the Florida Reef Tract, North America’s only living coral barrier reef and the third largest in the world. Home to more than 500 species of fish, the reef is also essential to the Sunshine State’s economy, generating an estimated $1.1 billion annually in tourism. The reef buffers(保护) the coastline, too, since health y coral reefs absorb 97 percent of a wave’s energy. Three-quarters of Florida’s 22 million people live along the coast, and the Florida Reef Tract provides more than $650 million in combined economic activity and flood protection.
A November 2022 study from the University of Miami has found that 70 percent of Florida’s coral reefs are experiencing a net loss of reef habitat. Directly facing these concerns is what I mean by seeing the sea—the good, the bad, the important. Knowledge is power, and we can use it to inform our choices, from traveling more mindfully, to examining how we run our businesses, to voting. “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something,” Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer at Large, is fond of saying.
The ocean is a remarkable teacher, and it’s never too late to start learning.
1. What does the sea do for our human?| A．The sea changes our climate. |
| B．The sea controls carbon dioxide for us. |
| C．The sea produces all the oxygen we need. |
| D．The sea provides economical benefits for us. |
| A．Travelling more, learning more. |
| B．Running our business creatively. |
| C．Raising awareness of conservation. |
| D．Doing some voting before actions. |
| A．A scientific fiction. | B．A news report. |
| C．A travel journal. | D．A natural magazine. |
| A．To Hug the Ocean Tightly. |
| B．To Learn the Ocean Devotedly. |
| C．To Clean the Ocean Carefully. |
| D．To Love the Ocean Permanently. |
4 . From composer, musician, and philanthropist(慈善家)Peter Buffett comes, a warm, wise, and inspirational, book that asks, “Which win you choose: the path of least resistance or the path of potentially greatest sailsfaction?”
You may think that with a last name like his, Buffett has enjoyed a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that the only real inheritance handed down from his parents is a philosophy: Build your own path in life.It is a principle that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap his own successes.
In Life Is What You Make It.Buffett expounds on(阐释)the strong set of values given to him by his trusting and broadminded mother, his hardworking and talented father, and the many life teachers he has met along the way.
Today’s society, Buffett assumes, has begun to replace a work ethic, enjoying what you do, with a wealth ethic, honoring the payoff instead of the process.We confuse privilege with material wealth, character with external validation(认可). Yet, by focusing more on substance and less on reward, we can open doors of opportunity and strive toward a greater sense of fulfillment.In clear and brief terms, Buffett reveals a great truth: Life is random, neither fair nor unfair.
From there it becomes easy to recognize the equal dignity and value of every human life our circumstances may vary but our essence does not. We see that our journey in life rarely follows a straight line but is often met with false starts, crises, and mistakes.How we push through and persevere in these challenging moments is where we begin to create the life Of our dreams—from discovering our vocations to giving back to others.
Personal and instructive, Life Is What You Make It is about challenging your circumstances, taking control of your destiny, and living your life to the fullest.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?| A．To describe a famous person. |
| B．To introduce a book. |
| C．To talk about what life is about. |
| D．To discuss how to live a meaningful life. |
| A．His father is very rich. |
| B．One of his hobbies is music. |
| C．He achieved success by himself. |
| D．He wrote the book Life Is What You Make It. |
| A．People are following their interests. |
| B．People are seeking spiritual enjoyment. |
| C．People pay more attention to the process. |
| D．People focus more on the results. |
| A．Living without an, aim is like sailing without a compass. |
| B．Life is full of ups and downs. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is away. |
| D．Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being. |
5 . I major in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science. When someone hears what I study, I’m usually meant with two reactions. First up is a small smile with the word “overachiever” on the tip of their tongue. The second is a look of confusion, followed by an exaggerated(夸张的) “why?”. The short answer: I want to be a problem solver, and engineering teaches me how to become that type of person. In addition, I also want to be able to look at the bigger picture.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and a lot of first-years have plans for double or triple majors. However, as most of us quickly realize after that first fall semester, college is a lot! We are unavoidably forced to make choices—do we keep trying to make our double or triple majors work or do we completely switch gears? The thing I wished someone told me on day one is if you’re passionate about something, it’s not going to feel like work. Political Science can be challenging, but to me, it’s fun to read the Constitution(宪法) and see the impact each word has on our interpretation.
This may sound hard to accept, but if you are double or triple majoring because you think you’re in a race with your peers, you’re only running yourself into the ground. Don’t double or triple major if you are doing it for a mark on your resume(简历), because then your life will be a living hell for the next four years. What is going to make you impressive is the passion that you have—whether it be in your study, career, or something else your career and study will enable you to do.
Always think about your “why” when it comes to the schedule a double or triple major entails. Because at the end of the day, it’s going to be you doing the homework—so try to enjoy what you’re doing along the ride for what it’s worth.
1. How do people tend to feel about the writer’s majors?| A．Satisfied or confused. | B．Amazed or concerned. |
| C．Impressed or puzzled. | D．Ashamed or challenged. |
| A．His enthusiasm for the major. |
| B．His career planning for the future. |
| C．The influence of learning engineering. |
| D．The value of studying the Constitution. |
| A．Adjusting the schedule for majors constantly. |
| B．Pursuing multiple majors out of competitive motivation. |
| C．Making random choices without sufficient consideration. |
| D．Estimating the difficulty of multiple majoring inaccurately. |
| A．To promote the concept of multiple majoring. |
| B．To explain the reasons for choosing a double major. |
| C．To compare the gains and losses of multiple majoring. |
| D．To stress the significance of passion in multiple majoring. |
6 . We often hear such statements “I spilled juice, but it wasn’t my fault.”, “I got in trouble at school, but it wasn’t my fault.” Or “I was in a car accident, but it wasn’t my fault.” That “It’s not my fault.” is a go-to response for so many people and especially teenagers.
Parents complain they are tired of the “excuse”. The reason why variations of “It’s not my fault.” are so popular is that it lets us off the hook from guilt and blame. I’m a fan of not owning responsibility for things that I can’t control. Teens who often say “It’s my fault.” when something bad happens tend to be highly self-critical, perfectionistic and much easier to be troubled by anxiety and depression.
While it is important to recognize a lack of reason to blame oneself, many teens over-rely on “It’s not my fault.” When trying to get them to take responsibility, parents usually attempt to convince their teens that something is their fault. The approach tends to be ineffective and turn into a power struggle. No one wins. A more effective approach can be to stress significant drawbacks to consistently focusing on removing our responsibility with this phrase.
Overuse of the phrase can result in feelings of lack of ability to control their own lives. This sense has been shown to cause low motivation. Besides creating feelings of lack of ability, overuse of “It’s not my fault.” focuses a teen’s attention on what is done as opposed to what needs to be done.
People may not have caused all their problems, but they have to solve them anyway. The example I frequently share with teens is the question of what one will do if he is pushed into a deep lake. One can certainly stay in water, yelling, “It’s not my fault.” However, that won’t get him out of water. He needs to swim to the shore, regardless of the fault.
If you take a proper approach to communicating with your teens, you can help them avoid over-reliance on “It’s not my fault.”.
1. What phenomenon is described in Paragraph 1?| A．The teenagers’ dislike for school life. |
| B．The common trouble faced by teenagers. |
| C．The reasons for blaming others for accidents. |
| D．The tendency for people not to be responsible for mess in life. |
| A．Those lacking confidence and ambition. | B．Those allowing others to find excuses. |
| C．Those unable to get along well with others. | D．Those often blaming themselves for some incidents. |
| A．It’s harmful to overuse “It’s not my fault.”. | B．It’s important to learn lessons from faults. |
| C．It’s difficult for people to admit their fault. | D．It’s absurd to often find excuses for mistakes in life. |
| A．We should try to avoid troubling others. | B．We should focus on how to address issues. |
| C．We should dare to point out others’ mistakes. | D．We should be self-critical as much as possible. |
7 . It’s a question that’s bothered cultural critics for decades: while we know more than ever, are we getting sillier and dumber as a result of the increasing amount of technology at our disposal?
The current debate about intelligence, sparked by Nicholas Carr’s recent The Shallows, asks what the Internet is doing to our brains? Like Susan Jacoby’s The Age of American Unreason, Mr. Carr addresses the sense of despair among American intellectuals about the country’s poor educational performance when compared with other countries. In reading, mathematics and science, American 15-year-olds suffer in the lower half of the rankings for the 30 wealthiest countries.
But things are rarely as they seem. E-books barely existed a decade ago, but have exploded in popularity since Amazon introduced its Kindle a few years back. E-books are now outselling hardcovers. Perhaps we are witnessing not a decline in book reading but a renaissance. The irony is that had computers been invented before books we would now.be anxious about the loss of multi-media, multi-tasking, computer-gaming skills as our children wasted their time burying themselves in single topic paper books.
“There is simply no experimental evidence to show that living with new technologies fundamentally changes brain organization in a way that affects one’s ability to focus,” says Daniel Simons, a psychologist at Union College, New York.
The danger, if there is one, is that the easy, on-demand access to lots of information from the Internet may delude us into mistaking the data we download for genuine wisdom worth acting upon. Only fools would venture into such a forest of information with anything less than their eyes wide open and their brains fully engaged .Fortunately，there are fewer fools around than some of the scaremongers(散布谣言者)like to think.
1. What makes American scholars upset?| A．US kids’ weak academic performance. |
| B．The ongoing debate about intelligence. |
| C．The poor education in USA. |
| D．America’s wealth ranking. |
| A．To contrast with the popularity of Kindle. |
| B．To highlight the benefits of high tech. |
| C．To warn about a decline in reading. |
| D．To stress the importance of books. |
| A．terrify | B．argue | C．force | D．trick |
| A．New technology changes our brains. |
| B．Exposure to high tech should be reduced. |
| C．Advanced technology won’t make us dumb |
| D．Nicholas Carr released a book on intelligence. |
8 . It is a common question to ask yourself: What do you want to be when you grow up?
In the past it has generally been accepted that a person will follow one career path, but an emerging group of people have changed this idea. By pursuing jobs across several walks, this group has come to be known as “slashers (斜杠青年)”.
There are many reasons why this has become popular, particularly among those under the age of 30. In modern competitive society, having multiple income streams (多种收入来源) is one of the best ways to create financial security.
Zhao Sichen is one follower of the slasher movement. The 34-year-old is an English teacher at Tsinghua University High School. Outside the classroom, Zhao also works as project manager in charge of education programs at the Internet tech company NetEase.
In addition to providing a sense of job security, becoming a slasher reduces boredom and prevents becoming burned out on (不再热衷) focusing on a single path.
According to the Guardian, “Entrepreneurs (创业者) are a typical example of a group that expects to spread their careers across multiple areas.” Erin Albert is a typical slasher in the UK. Apart from having written books, Albert is an assistant professor, an entrepreneur and a law student. Albert often asks his students to think about, “why they can’t both take an immediate job offer they are not sure about as well as work toward their ‘dream’ job”.
Technology has also promoted this choice. Online tools and platforms have allowed people to pursue different interests and career paths as they have promoted the ability to work remotely. Never has it been easier for those who have interests in a variety of careers to pursue them at the same time. It seems that right now the sky is the limit for those who are considering what they want to do in the future.
1. What do we know about slashers?| A．They are mostly 30 years old. | B．They follow one career path. |
| C．They change jobs frequently. | D．They tend to work several jobs. |
| A．It gives people more free time to relax. |
| B．It helps people gain financial security. |
| C．It gets people to pursue their dream. |
| D．It makes people feel less bored in a single job. |
| A．Technology allows people to work remotely. |
| B．Doing more than one job might be encouraged. |
| C．Most people will work several jobs at the same time. |
| D．It has become more common for people to pursue multiple jobs. |
| A．Pursuing Your Dreams. | B．Slashers in China. |
| C．Slashing through Jobs. | D．Choosing Multiple Jobs. |
9 . Who is a Real Danger? Cyclists or Pedestrians?
We are having a debate about this topic. Here are some letters from our readers.
Yes, many cyclists behave dangerously. Many drivers are disrespectful of cyclists. But pedestrians are probably the worst offenders.
People of all ages happily walk along the pavement with eyes and hands glued to their mobile phones, quite unaware of what is going on around them. They may even do the same thing while crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or elsewhere. The rest of us have to evade (避让) them or just stand still to wait for the unavoidable collision.
The real problem is that some pedestrians seem to be, at least for the moment, in worlds of their own that are, to them, much more important than the welfare of others.
—Michael Horan
I love the letter from Bob Brooks about cyclists (Viewpoints, May 29). I am afraid they seem to think they own the roads.
I was walking across Altrincham Road one morning when a cyclist went round me and, on being asked what he was doing, shouted at me.
The government built a cycle lane on the road, but it is hardly used.
The police do nothing. What a laugh they are!
The cyclists should all have to be made to use the cycle lanes and wear helmets, fluorescent (发荧光的) jackets and lights at night and in the morning. They should pay some sort of tax and be fined for not wearing them.
—Carol Harvey
Cyclists jump on and off pavements (which are meant for pedestrians), ride at speed along the pavements, and think they have a special right to go through traffic lights when they are on red.
I was almost knocked down recently by a cyclist riding on the pavement when there was a cycle lane right next to him.
Other road users, including horse riders, manage to obey the rules. So why not cyclists?
It’s about time they were registered and insured, so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle or cause an accident, at least they can be treated and there might be an opportunity to claim compensation.
—JML
Write to Viewpoints of the newspaper.
1. Michael Horan wrote the letter mainly to show that __________.
| A．walking while using phones hurts one’s eyes |
| B．some pedestrians are a threat to road safety |
| C．road accidents can actually be avoided |
| D．drivers should be polite to cyclists |
| A．be provided with enough roads | B．be made to pay less tax for cycling |
| C．be asked to ride on their own lanes | D．be fined for laughing at policemen |
| A．ways to improve road safety | B．the real source of road danger |
| C．measures to punish road offences | D．increased awareness of road rules |
10 . Ai-Da sits behind a desk, a paintbrush in her hand. She looks up at the person posing for her, and then back down as she applies another drop of paint onto the canvas(画布). A lifelike portrait is taking shape. If you didn’t know a robot produced it, this portrait could pass as the work of a human artist.
Ai-Da produces portraits of sitting subjects using a robotic hand attached to her lifelike figure. She’s also able to talk, giving detailed answers to questions about her artistic process and attitudes towards technology. She even gave a TEDx talk titled “The Intersection of Art and AI” in Oxford several years ago. Ai-Da’s creators have also been experimenting with having her write and perform her own poetry.
But how are we to interpret Ai-Da’s output? Should we consider her paintings and poetry original and creative? Are these works actually art?
What discussions about AI and creativity often overlook is the fact that creativity isn’t an absolute quality that can be defined, measured and reproduced objectively. When we describe an object-for instance, a child’s drawing—as being creative, we project our own assumptions about culture onto it. Indeed, art never exists in isolation. It always needs someone to give it “art” status. And the criteria for whether you think something is art are formed by both your expectations and broader cultural conceptions.
If we extend this line of thinking to AI, it follows that no Al application or robot can objectively be “creative”. It is always we—humans—that decide whether works created by AI are art.
Some may see robot-produced paintings as something coming from creative computers, while others may be skeptical, given the fact that robots act on clear human instructions. In any case, attribution (归属)of creativity never depends on technical arrangement alone—no computer is objectively creative. Rather, the attribution of computational creativity is largely inspired by contexts of reception. Through particular social information, some people are inspired to think of AI output as art, systems as artists, and computers as creators. Therefore, as with any piece of art, your appreciation of AI output ultimately depends on your own interpretation.
1. What can we learn about Ai-Da?| A．She has a complex many-sided personality | B．She beat others in the debate on art and AI. |
| C．She is capable of drawing high-quality portraits. | D．She can write poems without being programmed. |
| A．That art is content-based. | B．That art can take many forms. |
| C．That creativity is closely related to cultures. | D．That creativity is often measured subjectively. |
| A．Every coin has two sides. | B．Great minds think alike. |
| C．Four eyes see more than two. | D．Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| A．Is AI-created Art Really Art? | B．Will People Accept AI Artists? |
| C．Can We Use AI to Create Portraits? | D．Do We Need to Improve AI’s Creativity? |
